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FBI probe shooting death of Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman
wptv.com ^ | March 20 2012 | CNN staff

Posted on 03/21/2012 11:20:24 AM PDT by NoLibZone

CNN Staff

SANFORD, Fla. - Federal prosecutors and the FBI have opened an investigation into the killing of an unarmed teen by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford.

The death drew protesters Monday to the courthouse in Seminole County, north of Orlando, to demand justice for Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was shot and killed last month while walking back to his father's fiancee's house in Sanford.

The African-American teen's parents said Monday that they believed race was a factor in their son's death, and the Congressional Black Caucus had called for a federal investigation, saying local police have shown "blatant disregard for justice."

Late Monday, the Justice Department said it would dispatch officials to Sanford to investigate and "to address tension in the community."

"The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation," Justice Department spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a written statement. "The department also is providing assistance to and cooperating with the state officials in their investigation into the incident."

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/state/fbi-to-probe-shooting-death-of-trayvon-martin-by-neighborhood-watch-volunteer-george-zimmerman#ixzz1pmDO1Z7E

(Excerpt) Read more at wptv.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: trayvon; trayvonmartin
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To: DallasSun
I agree. He is a nut. And now a criminal. He needs to be prosecuted for first degree murder. He cannot claim self defense.

Since you seem to know what happened, perhaps you can answer my questions:

What happened to cause the physical fight between the two? And who initiated the transition from verbal to violent?
41 posted on 03/21/2012 12:20:30 PM PDT by ZX12R (FUBO GTFO 2012 ! We should take off and Newt washington from orbit.)
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To: John Semmens
There were thousands of Russian and German Jewish families who made it to Cuba and the Dominican Republic in the early part of the twentieth century.

I know one whose great grand-mother married a Cuban (Chaviano). They had a daughter, Olga Chaviano, who was a club dancer and bag-lady/courier for the mob. They are Russian/Jewish/Cuban. They fled the pogroms in Russia for Cuba then fled Cuba for Miami and NYC.

I know German Jews who settled in Sosua, DR, during the same period when Sosua was a good place to get a fresh start.

They left there when sketchy Italians and Germans started showing up in 1946/7.

The same thing happened to Russian Jews in Argentina.

It bothers me but doesn't exactly surprise me that so many freepers seem shocked that one can be Latino with a German name or German with a Spanish name.

And, frankly, it has absolutely nothing to do with this murder....except to people here and elsewhere who see everything through the prism of race.

42 posted on 03/21/2012 12:25:02 PM PDT by wtc911 (Amigo - you've been had.)
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To: DallasSun

that’s because the murderer crossed state lines.

this case in FLA has no similarities to the ‘quad’ murder.

this is purely and simply race whoring by obama’s AG


43 posted on 03/21/2012 12:25:39 PM PDT by spacejunkie2001
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To: spacejunkie2001

Thank you for reminding me. You are right. But no, I do not agree with you at all about this having anything to do with President Obama or race whatever. I think it appropriate for another agency to step in now. I just want to see Zimmerman prosecuted. If this was not legal, it would not be happening. But I do thank you for reminding me why the feds stepped in for quad mom murder.


44 posted on 03/21/2012 12:35:46 PM PDT by DallasSun (Courage~Fear that has said its prayers.)
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To: DallasSun

With respect, open your eyes to Obama, his AG and their race based approach to governing. They are CLEARLY racists, and Holder is getting involved to keep the race flame glowing.

FLA does NOT need the DOJ involved in this, or the FBI.

Why are you so set on seeing Zimmerman prosecuted without the facts? Did you know there was a fight between the two? Did you know FLA has the ‘stand your ground’ law that allows CC licensee’s to protect themselves from bodily harm, even if the other person does NOT have a gun? you’re getting inflamed by the media coverage which is LESS than complete.


45 posted on 03/21/2012 12:40:05 PM PDT by spacejunkie2001
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To: luvbach1
I do business with people in the south of Brazil all of whose names are right out of Central European casting (German, Czech, Polish) and with a family (German name) owned business in Mexico. The father looks very Germanic and the kids completely Latin. Their ancestors came over around the end of the 19th century. Naming rights do not guarantee culture or ethnic identity and a German name does not automatically mean "Nazi".

Based on looks this fellow is hardly the stereotypical southern cracker the media and the race pimps all crave and this cognitive dissonance could well be why they seem flummoxed and wrong footed about how to treat the case. I think a lot of us have the gut feeling that this shooting was the result of a neighborhood watch guy going all Rambo on an innocent kid. But with no witnesses but the shooter how do you prove it?

46 posted on 03/21/2012 12:48:37 PM PDT by katana (Just my opinions)
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To: goseminoles

“Dude. He killed a kid walking down the street”

Not so. He killed a “kid” who was 6ft 3 and had him down on his back punching him in the face according to an eye witness. Try to keep up.

“Zimmerman was justified in using deadly force according to Florida’s STAND YOUR GROUND LAW because Martin was on top of him beating him in the face.

According to this eye witness quoted in this article Zimmerman was getting the worst of it and calling for help once the fighting started.

“The guy on the bottom, who had a red sweater on, was yelling to me, ‘Help! Help!’ and I told him to stop, and I was calling 911,” said the witness, who asked to be identified only by his first name, John.

John said he locked his patio door, ran upstairs and heard at least one gun shot.

“And then, when I got upstairs and looked down, the guy who was on the top beating up the other guy, was the one laying in the grass, and I believe he was dead at that point.”

Read more: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/seminole_news/022712-man-shot-and-killed-in-neighborhood-altercation#ixzz1phFMGCu4

That is why the cops didnt arrest him at the scene after hearing this witness account, observing his bloody nose and his bleeding from the back of he head and grass stains on the back of his shirt. Considering that he had a concealed carry permit, was injured in the scuffle, was in fear for his live, and reasonably thought that Martin was a criminal, The cops let him go after cuffing him when the local prosecutors said there was not enough evidence for manslaughter conviction under Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law.

The witness said it was Zimmerman who was screaming for help and police detectives even ran the 9-11 tapes of the screaming by the “kids” father and the father said the screams were NOT from his son.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/orlandowesh-16122564/sanford-police-speak-out-in-trayvon-martin-case-28640523.html

Besides Martin is not the angelic 12 year old pictured in almost all the news stories but was almost 18, six foot three, and had been suspended from High School in Miami so he went to Sanford to visit his dad. If you listen to the 9-11 tapes, the kid approached Zimmerman when he was sitting in his truck as a possible intimidation tactic. It is also possible that the kid was not a terrified babe in the woods as portrayed but regarded Zimmerman following him as a white man dissing him and he attacked the watch captain without warning.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/neighborhood-watchman-killed-trayvon-martin-ignored-neighborhood-watch-photo-201122767

Granted, Zimmerman was wrong to follow the kid but IF the kid attacked him he is protected from a manslaughter charge by the SYG Law.However,civil lawsuits against him and the housing complex are another matter.

Lets have a Grand Jury review the evidence and then arrest him if the evidence showed he attacked the kid first.


47 posted on 03/21/2012 12:50:38 PM PDT by Uncle Lonny
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To: Abathar

“If I was ever in his shoes and it was a legitimate shooting I sure as heck would hope the state would not listen to mobs of angry people hell bent on it being a race crime and investigate it.”

Good luck with that.....


48 posted on 03/21/2012 12:52:44 PM PDT by saleman (!!!!)
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To: DallasSun

Not sure of FL law specifically, but many states’ self defense laws indeed do protect someone who, after initiating a conflict, breaks it off and attempts to withdraw and then are counter-attacked so to speak-the right to self defense may indeed be Zimmerman’s.

The fact that he contacted the police 46 or how ever many times is irrelevant. He was a member or known to be acting as a Neighborhood Watch volunteer-it would be completely reasonable for one acting thusly to be in regular contact with the 911 dispatcher-doing his duty as a volunteer.

On the other hand, if I was walking along doing nothing other than being there and a stranger followed me and then approached me and proceeded to get verbal and eventually physical, I would do my best to avoid it, but eventually I may be required and be entitled under the law to defend myself with essential countervailing force as needed.

All we know is the youth (a 17 YO is not a “boy” by any means) is dead from a single gunshot wound and Zimmerman claims to have done so in self defense. The evidence of an investigation and other information PERTINENT to the case will tell the story.

Zimmerman may have been out of line and indeed guilty as hell but to assess guilt before any trial so determines is unAmerican and illogical.

Maybe the youth was indeed acting out his past (wasn’t he out of his own town visiting Dad “to get his life on track”) or something? Was he a juvy felon type? Is that important? Not sure.

All of this is necessary BEFORE assessing guilt of murder or a relatively complex case of self-defense as already claimed and as prelim evidence may indicate (why else would the local PD or SP?SBI not have already arrested him? He isn’t a cop or something, after all). Isn’t the case before a grand jury right now?

Just because the youth’s family and the city is enraged, means nothing in and of itself in terms of what the state should do. Either we have absolute justice based on fact and evidence or we are Iran, Egypt etc.

That there are no eyewitnesses (that we know of) is certainly in Zs favor, but if he is lying about what happened, it will eventually come out.

Patience is a virtue that we as a nation has collectively lost, it seems.

If Z is indeed a murderer, if evidence and testimony verifies, then he should fry. If he has a claim to SD, and that is either proved or is reasonable in light of the evidence (or lack against such conclusion), then he should walk. That is called justice as man knows it.


49 posted on 03/21/2012 12:54:23 PM PDT by Manly Warrior (US ARMY (Ret), "No Free Lunches for the Dogs of War" (my spelling is generally korrect!))
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To: spacejunkie2001

I have the facts the same as you. I am very familiar with the castle doctrine and the stand your ground laws. Neither are applicable to someone chasing someone then claiming self defense. In San Antonio, a homeowner had a burglar break into his home. The burglar ran...the homeowner chased him into the street and shot him. The homeowner is now in prison for murder. And race had alot to do with this according to the recorded 911 calls. We have the same facts. We have reached different conclusions. All we can do now is wait for the results. I would bet the farm Zimmerman is prosecuted as well he should be.


50 posted on 03/21/2012 12:54:40 PM PDT by DallasSun (Courage~Fear that has said its prayers.)
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To: NoLibZone
A "Million Hoodie March" (not kidding) is being held in NYC to support the victim's family. I think the Obama Regime is desperate to get any kind of momentum going after a dismal month, so they've decided that playing the race card is the best way to do it. The racism part is being played up as the result of a recording of the 911 call the perp made shortly before the shooting happened, in which many claim to hear Zimmerman say "f***ing coons". But after listening to the recording several times, it sounds to me like he said "punks", which he also said earlier in the call. Is the guy guilty of murder? Probably. Of racism? The Obama admin is banking on it.
51 posted on 03/21/2012 12:54:57 PM PDT by Major Matt Mason (The Chicago Way isn't the American Way.)
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To: DallasSun

I consider all “hate crime” prosecutions to be racist when applied to race and sexualist when applied to sex preferences.

And by definition, they are not equal protection before the law.


52 posted on 03/21/2012 12:55:18 PM PDT by Psycho_Bunny (Burning the Quran is a waste of perfectly good fire.)
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To: Uncle Lonny

Nice summary and nice conclusion.


53 posted on 03/21/2012 12:56:43 PM PDT by Ratman83
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To: Manly Warrior

I agree with all you said and you said it well. Thank you.


54 posted on 03/21/2012 12:58:51 PM PDT by DallasSun (Courage~Fear that has said its prayers.)
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To: Manly Warrior

I agree with all you said and you said it well. Thank you.


55 posted on 03/21/2012 12:58:51 PM PDT by DallasSun (Courage~Fear that has said its prayers.)
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To: katana
It's a good question. I don't know if this timeline from a local Florida station helps.

If the girlfriend who was on the phone with Martin is to be believed, it contradicts the statement of Zimmerman's father that Martin jumped out at him. What will be really important is the phone log of Martin's phone and the time that the call to Martin cut off. That will be crucial to fill in the gap between the end of Zimmerman's 911 call (7:14 PM) and the first neighbor 911 call reporting two men struggling (7:16:11 PM). If, for instance, he was still on the phone to the girlfriend just before the struggle, the "he jumped at me" defense will go out the window.

56 posted on 03/21/2012 1:00:26 PM PDT by sometime lurker
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To: Uncle Lonny

Your summary seems to incldue more facts than any other single peice of journalism or media commentary. Good Job.

Much of the hyperbole coming from the reactionary masses (somewhat represented on this forum, it seems) is washed away by the facts.

6-3 and 18, inner city wanna be maybe? Aggresses as captured on 9-11 tapes, and then escalation follows (as captured on 9-11 tapes) and the result is a shooting, who’d a thunk it?

I still stand firm-if Z is guilty of a crime, then he should pay.

Again, well done.


57 posted on 03/21/2012 1:05:02 PM PDT by Manly Warrior (US ARMY (Ret), "No Free Lunches for the Dogs of War" (my spelling is generally korrect!))
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To: DallasSun

you’re jumping to huge conclusions about this being about race. There’s nothing on the calls that lead one to believe there’s a pattern. The dispatcher asked Zimmerman if he was white/black, etc and Z said black. And, if you had all the facts as you claim, you’d know about Z’s family coming out saying he’s from a MIXED race family and is not a racist.

I agree with the 2 posts above yours. Let it play out. If Z committed a crime, he should pay, if he didn’t he should walk. But shame on every damn one of you that claim this is race related. That serves to do nothing but inflame things and BACK up obama and his loser AG on their intent to destroy this country by race riots.


58 posted on 03/21/2012 1:06:32 PM PDT by spacejunkie2001
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To: Uncle Lonny
“The witness said it was Zimmerman who was screaming for help and police detectives even ran the 9-11 tapes of the screaming by the “kids” father and the father said the screams were NOT from his son.”

I was in Florida at the time this happened and the local news, I believe, interviewed the mother and stepfather or boyfriend, I forget exactly. Anyway they played the tapes and the mother was understandably distraught. Especially since, in her words, her poor baby was shot while shouting for help.

It made for great TV.

I had my doubts at the time but thought, hey, a mother would know her own child's voice, wouldn't she?

If that wasn't Martins’ voice on the tape then what does that say about the Mother and the motivations of all that have done their best to inflame the situation?

59 posted on 03/21/2012 1:07:07 PM PDT by saleman (!!!!)
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To: spacejunkie2001

You are also jumping to conclusions. He did have problems with blacks. This has been established through complaints the HOA had about him. There was a racial epithet used by him during one of the 911 calls. There was no fight. The boy was on his back with a bag of skittles in his hand calling for help. There were witnesses to this and you can hear on the calls that he was calling for help. In no way can Zimmerman cite self defense. You and I disagree. We can do this. It does not make one right and the other wrong. It means we disagree. Now all we can do is wait for prosecution and see the outcome. But I do appreciate the debate and your thoughts on the case.


60 posted on 03/21/2012 1:13:05 PM PDT by DallasSun (Courage~Fear that has said its prayers.)
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